Dubai, Dec 12 (UNI) The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced that the pitch for the second Test of the ICC World Test Championship series between Bangladesh and New Zealand at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur has been rated as “unsatisfactory” under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
ICC Match Referee, David Boon, submitted his report to the ICC expressing the concerns of the match officials and after consulting with the captains of both teams. Following the assessment, the venue has received one demerit point.
Boon expressed the concerns in his report calling the pitch to be ‘under-prepared’ with inconsistent bounce and balls bursting from the surface, an ICC media release said.
“The outfield was very good and held up extremely well with the rain. However, it appeared that the pitch may have been under prepared, as it was not hard and was covered in grass clippings on day one,” Boon said.
“From the first session onwards, throughout the remainder of the match the bounce was inconsistent with numerous balls bursting the surface. Deliveries from spin bowlers often went over the batter’s shoulder when playing forward and then occasionally stayed very low,” he added.
Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and when a venue accumulates six demerit points it is suspended from staging any international cricket for 12 months.
The report has been forwarded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), who now have 14 days if they wish to appeal against the sanction.
